Challenge Series 2009: Challenge 05

If you don’t know what the Challenge Series 2009 is all about, please read the Introduction.

Onto the fifth challenge.

The Challenge

You can’t attack an enemy until it attacks you.

Definition

Let me define attack. This means that as soon as an enemy becomes aware of you and changes its behaviour. For example, it doesn’t mean that a Metrocop has to have fired at you or a manhack has to have touched you before you attack them. But it also means you can’t sneak up on any enemy for this challenge.

About

I haven’t tried this challenge myself yet and as I mentioned last week I would have preferred if I could have tested all the challenges with some beta testers on some specific maps, but I didn’t. This means that this challenge could prove to be very hard or very easy, depending on which enemies you encounter and what weapons you happen to have.

It almost means that the crossbow becomes useless because 99 times out of a 100 you fire it when the enemy is unaware of your presence. To be honest, I am not sure how this will affect other weapons, but it should be interesting to see.

I thought this might fun because we all feel superior to our enemy and know they are there, but they don’t “know” in the same way. This could even things up a bit.

A Variation

If I were a smart coder I might have been able to make a gameplay mod where enemies had a red hue until they came with a set distance from me, at which point the red turns to green. That means I can attack them. I suppose there’s nothing stopping you from doing that version of the challenge but it may be hard to judge the distance and decide what distance to use.

Notes

Try adapting this challenge to your skill level and the mods you are playing. If you enjoy “close in action” then maybe this one will be fun for you. Others may wish to take a tease approach, where you get the enemy’s attention then move back a little.

Your Experiences

Don’t forget a major part of the challenge series is to share our experiences. Don’t let my questions limit you but here are some to get you started:

Which enemies proved the most difficult?

Did it make a difference as to which weapon you used?

Was it easier or harder than your normal playing style?

Once the challenge is over will you continue playing with this challenge?

8 Comments

Help. Anyone found a map here where the enemy meets the critrium? I’ve had a look at several and the enemy
1. Know where I am (they always do don’t they?).
2. In my face before I’ve had a chance to get in theirs.
Suggestions very welcome – no denizens of Ravenholm, please.

This is the gentleman’s style of playing, quite a bit of fair play in it (and can be applied in dm, too :D), nice idea, PP.
For Jasper, they don’t always know where you are, I doubt they even know where their team mates are. I used to think most enemies, NPCs and bots attack/approach what they see on a 360 degree radius, although I’ve seen many combine facing away and not taking action, and I just thought that was bad AI :)) Try Lost Coast (short and beautiful), for start, but I think most enemies won’t attack unless they first see you, they don’t come looking for you in every corner, you have to enter their patrol zone.

Thanks Ade. Forgot about Lost Coast. Worked on some Combine on the way up who lost immediate interest. In the church, worked on just one Combine. Enough for this challenge. I played on easy.
– Which enemies proved the most difficult?
Other than the headcrabs in the launcher there are only the Combine and the Helicopter. I imagine that it would be the Combine anyway. Maybe Fast Zombies.
– Did it make a difference as to which weapon you used?
No. That might be because I’ve played Lost Coast on hard several times over the years and know which ammunition is replenished and where.
– Was it easier or harder than your normal playing style?
Harder because you take hits that otherwise you would not.
– Once the challenge is over will you continue playing with this challenge?
No. Very tedious. Hopeless in hard skill.
While HL2+ are games there is some connection with reality if only that if you take too many hits, you die.
In war, if your enemy has his back turned or has gone to sleep, you do not wake him up – you take the free hit and blow his head clean off (very satisfying).
Good maps and mods are designed so that you can take maximum advantage of any opportuniy given or are manufactured by the player. SM is a great example of cover provided or, in some places, if you dally awhile, the Combine lose interest and you can – wait for it —–wait for it—- blow their heads clean off!